the new hand stained ash strats looking great. i hope they sound so to.

ahhhh gas....

should somebody own one before me please let me know your opinion.

cheers

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It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting - paulo coelho

yeah man!
I about could reach through the screen and take it !

Yes they do look very nice!

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Seen them. I heard the Jazz Basses...

Got on on order said It would be in Early June

Which stain?

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

I got mine Tuesday from Sweetwater. Love the guitar gallery feature... Anyway, pictures do not fully reveal just how cheap they went on the finish. I got the mahogany stain/maple board. I'm still giving it a go before I decide to keep it or send it back. My only real complaint with it, is the cheapish looking "hand stained, satin lacquer finish." From a couple of paces away it looks great, but in hand you can really see the sanding marks cut into the surface in places, going in different directions. That ultra thin top coat doesn't fill the voids, so you can plainly see them in the light. Nit-picking...sure...it's not a cheap guitar. Outside of finish, I have no other complaints. It feels lighter in the body than my other two, and the color combo looks good to my eyes. The neck feels great, the pickups sound good to my ears. Everything else is typical American Standard appointments, less the bridge/middle no load tone control (I don't feel a detent in the knob, and it doesn't seem have the same effect as my regular standard, but I'm still noodling with it). Mine was not signed on the back of the headstock. I've seen some that were, and some that were not. What that means...I have no clue. I like it. It is obvious that the finish will wear faster than the standard finishes.

I went with the Wine Red. Thought about with the Maple neck with it but I think the Rosewood Fingerboard gives it a better overall look.

I hope mine will have the same look as the gallery pic. If not that might be a deal breaker , and you should be nit picking you paid for it it should be what you want. The neck, that is a big deal for me it how the neck plays I got my Ivory FSR cause the neck was so very smooth!! Not sure out side of inspecting it why it would be signed, maybe it did not go through a QC inspection.

It has the inspection card like all of my others came with. I noticed on sweetwater's gallery that some have a signature and a number on the back of the headstock, and others do not, even the exact same model. Not a deal breaker for me, just have no idea why they wouldn't have the same treatment being fsr and such.

So the Stain is not that bad then? I noticed that too at Sweetwater Do you think that is from Sweetwater or Fender?

It was not the stain I have an issue with, it is a nice color, and the body looks good with the grain showing. It was the way the wood was finished prior to applying the stain/lacquer. In the light, you can see the sanding marks. It's a satin finish, and it also doesn't fill in any of the voids in the grain either, so the scratches left from sanding are IN THE WOOD and can be seen (if you're looking for them), it wasn't damaged after the finish was applied. If a thick poly finish were going over it, it wouldn't be seen. The pics on guitar gallery don't show it, it's that minuscule. I always go overboard when inspecting stuff I order online. Someone else might not even notice, it doesn't affect anything, just my observation. They didn't put too much effort in that particular type of finish. Why it is more expensive, is beyond me...just a tick higher quality than the Gibby faded finishes I've seen...but not by much.

No, you're not the only one that nit-piks..

I'd probably feel the same after dropping a grand on a guitar and finding what you did. You have to ask yourself if you want to keep it or exchange for another. Hoping the new one is better...

FWIW, I fell in love with that color myself. Don't have the $$ right now to get one though, so I'm saving my pennies. With my luck they'll be gone before I get a chance to get one!

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

I'm not impressed. This is the same craaaaaap that Gibson does. Build the guitar, and not finish it. Gibson knew that finishing guitars is very expensive, so why not build the guitar, put on a crummy finish, and sell it as a "Firebrand" or some other nonsense. I was a regional sales rep for Gibson back when they started doing this, and I remember saying "you're going to do WHAT?".

So, Fender makes an ash body, rubs some stain on it, sprays a thin coat of something on it, and turns it loose on the public. The reason they're "hand" stained is that they couldn't find a robot with the lack of scruples it takes to participate in this scam.

So anyway, that's my opinion. But, if someone likes these things, who am I to argue...none of my business, eh?

But the things just rubs me wrong. Still, I suppose if you're going to leave something off a guitar, better the finish than the pickups. And I guess they have to put the proper spin on this thing.....Ooooooo "HAND stained". Sounds better than "quickly, mostly sanded, sprayed some stuff on it...done!".

Got the New Wine Red in the other day. Brought it home to take a gander at it. Firsts thoughts when opening the the case is, Very nice. So I picked it up the grain is very pronounced and the satin finish is very thin. I examined it closer to see if I could detect any sanding that was not in the same direction. I finish lots of hand made items so i know what I was looking for. There was not a one I could not see any mismatched sand marks, for this I was happy. Gave it the once over slid my hand down the edge of the neck could not feel a fret that was raised even slightly, buffed & rolled edges. Took out my fret rocker and check it up and down everything was dead on. not a bad set up from the Factory I prefer a tad lower but I will let it get accustom to my location and humidity before I dive into that. I brought out My Fender FSR Ivory that I was able to get last year and thought I would do a side by side on it. Plugged it into the Fender Blues deluxe with and without the Weber Attenuator. The Humbuckers on the Neck side still gave that Strat sound but just a slight thicker. Like most Hubkrs the tone knobs effected greatly. From very thick and roll it back to a bit more growl. flipped it through a few hoops and decided that I liked it. Now this is not a Les Paul and that sound may never be achieved with this but that was not my goal. I wanted another Guitar that would give a deeper sound and maybe a good rhythm guitar sound. I prob will not change anything on this one just because it is a FSR I like to keep them original I have other one to fiddle with. So the wife says is that all now? I look over, Project Strat- CHECK- FSR Ivory - CHECK - New Wine Strat- CHECK- Kenny Wayne Strat for SRV sound - CHECK- Line 6 Veriax to fill in the rest -CHECK- a few acoustics - CHECK- a Squire Bass - CHECK- Yeah I don't like that bass. "So maybe another Bass", I say. She Rolls her eyes and goes upstairs. All in all I am pleased with the look and sound of the New guy